


now we are free

by curiouslyfic



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Archery, Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, F/F, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Nyssa has issues, Target Practice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-15 21:44:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3463121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curiouslyfic/pseuds/curiouslyfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Nyssa’s beloved is to survive much longer, she must learn self-reliance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	now we are free

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hazelandglasz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelandglasz/gifts).



> Thanks Kayoko for the canon check and Kinky_Kneazle for the rest.

“Just breathe,” Nyssa says, sparing a glance away from her target to determine how very tense her beloved is just now. There are few things as dangerous as broadcasting one’s plans, precisely how one means to strike, but as this is archery against stationary targets done solely to set Ta-er al-Sahfer at ease, Nyssa assumes she might be forgiven holding her stance too long.

Ta-er al-Sahfer is frowning off into the distance, squinting at the target before her as though she can hardly see it. Nyssa knows Ta-er al-Sahfer’s visual acuity to a degree that suggests Ta-er al-Sahfer is merely projecting her own insecurities onto the mark she’s meant to hit.

At this range, they can both sight their marks with perfect clarity. Any further delay will merely feed into Sara Lance’s misgivings, which Nyssa has sworn she will not do.

Nanda Parbat is difficult enough for those who have sought it out; without Nyssa’s aid, it might very well prove Sara Lance’s undoing. Nyssa has resolved this to be a reflection of the strength within herself Sara Lance does not acknowledge, though it has been crucial to her survival thus far.

If Nyssa’s beloved is to survive much longer, she must learn self-reliance. Must set aside the life she’s known, with all its petty weaknesses, and become the creature Nyssa sees, _Ta-er al-Sahfer_ from the ashes of what’s been Sara Lance.

She will not get there alone. Nor will she thrive from the aid of those who seek to claim the one thing Sara Lance appears to believe makes her worthy of consideration: Nyssa loathes every person who’s ever led Sara Lance to believe her value lies between her legs and as Nyssa has made clear repeatedly to the rest of her father’s league, she will personally challenge anyone who seeks to use her beloved’s confusion for their own pleasure.

None shall touch her until she understands what she truly offers. Even Nyssa keeps her peace; her beloved has been her beloved nearly since they met and Nyssa cannot breathe a word of it until Ta-er al-Sahfer becomes her true self.

Moments such as this merely hold her back. “You must _focus_ ,” Nyssa says, loosing her own arrow swift and sure into the heart of Ta-er al-Sahfer’s target. “Your target draws no nearer for your delay.”

Her beloved stares, bewildered, eyes bright with fear and so very Sara Lance’s. “I am not an archer. Isn’t there something else I could do here?”

Nyssa answers back first in her native tongue, allows herself to bleed out the worst of her impatience in a rush Sara Lance will not understand. “The Demon’s Head demands service in many forms. This is hardly the worst of them. If you wish to choose another, learn this one and be done with it.”

“Fine,” her beloved says, Sara Lance stubborn. “Maybe I will.” Then she’s lifting her chin slightly, marking her target, letting her own arrow fly with a certainty all Ta-er al-Sahfer.

It may be months yet before Nyssa al-Ghul will hear her beloved bird sing as she was meant and maybe Ta-er al-Sahfer will never sing as beloved for _Nyssa_ , but for now, Nyssa breathes.

 

 

 


End file.
